Notes to Poem: Meditations on 98

NOTES TO POEM: MEDITATIONS ON 98

By Peter Y. Chou, WisdomPortal.com

Line in Poem Literary Sources

O sing unto the Lord a new song—
we enjoy the treasure given us,
flying up as the falcon
to that truly delightful spot.
King David, Psalms 98.1 (1023 BC)
Rig Veda, VII.98.6 (1500 BC)
Papyrus of Ani, Chapter 98 (1250 BC)
Buddha's Dhammapada, VII.98 (240 BC)

The sage is calm everywhere
liberated from the objective world,
a partaker of the Holy Spirit,
with prayer ascending upwards.
Ashtavakra Gita, XVIII.98 (400 BC)
Lankavatara Sutra, 3.98 (443 AD)
Saint Mark the Ascetic, Text 98 (5th century AD)
Saint John of Karpathos, Text 98 (circa 680 AD)

Prayer is communication with our Ground—
the eye links ground and sky,
Mind is Mystery behind all mysteries—
Seek on, seek on. Look in, look in.
The Book of Angelus Silesius, page 98 (1657)
Seung Sahn, Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, Ch. 98 (1976)
Paul Brunton, Notebooks, Volume 16, IV.2.98 (1988)
Subramuniya, Merging with Siva, Lesson 98 (1999)

The glory thereof to portray
a thousand angels with wings outspread.
How shall I find words for the beauty
of gemlike flowers and jasperlike grasses.
Pearl Poet, Pearl, Line 98 (1400)
Dante, 98th Canto: Paradiso 31.130-133 (1321)
Kabir, Songs of Kabir, Verse 98 (1448)
Wu Ch'eng-en, Journey to the West, Ch. 98 (1518)

And the round ocean and the living air,
the glorious Sun uprist,
with wings that winnow blessing
so good, so wise, so mild.
William Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey" Line 98 (1798)
Coleridge, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Line 98 (1798)
Goethe, Faust, Part I, Scene 1, Line 98 (1832)
Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 98 (1851)

I forget all else again and again
that Maya blinds the spiritual sight,
Sparks flew. He had fled again—
Shake it dancing, break it down with joy.
Rabindranath Tagore, Verse 98 from Gitanjali (1912)
A.E, Song and Its Fountains, Page 98 (1932)
James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, Page 98.4 (1939)
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sonnet 98, Collected Sonnets (1941)

The maker of a thing yet to be made—
When the sun rises, it rises in the poem.
It falls to the earth; there it continues
wavelets of rivers without end.
Wallace Stevens, "Man with Blue Guitar", Line 98 (1937)
William Carlos Williams, Paterson, Page 98 (1958)
Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets, Sonnet 98 (1960)
Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels, Chapter 98 (1986)

Is it snow or light? Let's take a walk...
Those great sweeps of snow that stop suddenly
Ice-wind in my eyes and the suns dance—
as I praise Mountain Energy night and day.
Kenneth Koch, Collected Poems, Poem 98 (2006)
Robert Bly, Selected Poems, Poem 98 (1986)
Tomas Tranströmer, Great Enigma, Poem 98 (2006)
Mirabai, Poem 98 in Hirshfield's Women in Praise (1994)

Line in Poem	Literary Sources
O sing unto the Lord a new song— we enjoy the treasure given us, flying up as the falcon to that truly delightful spot.	King David, Psalms 98.1 (1023 BC) Rig Veda, VII.98.6 (1500 BC) Papyrus of Ani, Chapter 98 (1250 BC) Buddha's Dhammapada, VII.98 (240 BC)
The sage is calm everywhere liberated from the objective world, a partaker of the Holy Spirit, with prayer ascending upwards.	Ashtavakra Gita, XVIII.98 (400 BC) Lankavatara Sutra, 3.98 (443 AD) Saint Mark the Ascetic, Text 98 (5th century AD) Saint John of Karpathos, Text 98 (circa 680 AD)
Prayer is communication with our Ground— the eye links ground and sky, Mind is Mystery behind all mysteries— Seek on, seek on. Look in, look in.	The Book of Angelus Silesius, page 98 (1657) Seung Sahn, Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, Ch. 98 (1976) Paul Brunton, Notebooks, Volume 16, IV.2.98 (1988) Subramuniya, Merging with Siva, Lesson 98 (1999)
The glory thereof to portray a thousand angels with wings outspread. How shall I find words for the beauty of gemlike flowers and jasperlike grasses.	Pearl Poet, Pearl, Line 98 (1400) Dante, 98th Canto: Paradiso 31.130-133 (1321) Kabir, Songs of Kabir, Verse 98 (1448) Wu Ch'eng-en, Journey to the West, Ch. 98 (1518)
And the round ocean and the living air, the glorious Sun uprist, with wings that winnow blessing so good, so wise, so mild.	William Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey" Line 98 (1798) Coleridge, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Line 98 (1798) Goethe, Faust, Part I, Scene 1, Line 98 (1832) Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 98 (1851)
I forget all else again and again that Maya blinds the spiritual sight, Sparks flew. He had fled again— Shake it dancing, break it down with joy.	Rabindranath Tagore, Verse 98 from Gitanjali (1912) A.E, Song and Its Fountains, Page 98 (1932) James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, Page 98.4 (1939) Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sonnet 98, Collected Sonnets (1941)
The maker of a thing yet to be made— When the sun rises, it rises in the poem. It falls to the earth; there it continues wavelets of rivers without end.	Wallace Stevens, "Man with Blue Guitar", Line 98 (1937) William Carlos Williams, Paterson, Page 98 (1958) Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets, Sonnet 98 (1960) Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels, Chapter 98 (1986)
Is it snow or light? Let's take a walk... Those great sweeps of snow that stop suddenly Ice-wind in my eyes and the suns dance— as I praise Mountain Energy night and day.	Kenneth Koch, Collected Poems, Poem 98 (2006) Robert Bly, Selected Poems, Poem 98 (1986) Tomas Tranströmer, Great Enigma, Poem 98 (2006) Mirabai, Poem 98 in Hirshfield's Women in Praise (1994)

Meditation Notes to Poem:

This poem was written in honor of my Cornell Professor Harold A. Scheraga's
98th birthday on October 18, 2019. He was my doctorate advisor in Physical Chemistry of Macromolecules (1963-1970). For the context of sources for the lines, consult my web pages On Number 98 on composition of each line. What unites these writers quoted is the number 98. That is, the writer's words appeared in verse 98, sonnet 98, chapter 98, line 98, or page 98. This poem was arranged essentially in chronological order from King David's Psalms 98 (1023 BC), Hymn 98 in Rig Veda (1500 BC), and Chapter 98 from Papyrus of Ani (1250 BC) to Pablo Neruda's "Love Sonnet 98" (1960) and Poem 98 in Kenneth Koch's Collected Poems (2006). So much joy composing this poem with words from other writers.